Fiat Punto Long Term Report: June 2016

Since it’s got a Sport tag on it, it was about time that we put the Fiat Punto Evo Sport on a racetrack and strap a lap timer to it. On this occasion we took it to AutoX’s favourite playground and the country’s best racetrack, the Buddh International Circuit. And straight away there was a problem. The problem also has something I so dearly love about the Fiat Punto, safety. Because it is full of impact beams, crumple zones and body panels to protect its occupants with everything it’s got, the car is incredibly heavy.

It weighs a massive 1,198 kg in kerb weight. And this makes it quite a disappointment on a race track where all its 90bhp fall short of giving it that zing in acceleration when you really mash the right pedal. That said, it did bring home a respectable 2 minute and 58.5 second lap time. But there is no denying the fact that it felt, well, slow. Still, keeping the throttle pinned I saw the speedometer needle sweep past the 170 km/h mark on the back-straight of the BIC while the car remained absolutely stable.

And when it came to handling, the Punto left me grinning from ear to ear like always. In this age of electric power steering systems, I love the way its hydraulic steering is so feelsome. Combine this with the way the car corners in an absolutely flat manner leaves you attacking corner after corner in the chase for that precise line. Now, only if it had the power to match its phenomenal handling traits.